BREATHING UNDER WATER WEEK 6— WHAT COMES AROUND MUST GO AROUND

Step 12. Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

“What was given to you freely, you must give away freely.”

Matthew 10:8

“This gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the world.”

Matthew 24:14

“What we have heard and known for ourselves must not be withheld from our descendants, but be handed on by us to the next generation.”

Psalm 78:3-4

The world is filled with lost souls, wandering about without the spiritual anchorage of knowing God. Many have substituted for spiritual experience an addiction, either to a substance, such as alcohol or drugs, or to material possessions, or to worldly success. Those of us who have had a spiritual awakening, who have been born again as children of the living God, have an obligation to share the good news of the kingdom of God with our brothers and sisters.

This obligation does not mean we must all be preachers or go door-to-door proclaiming our message. Richard Rohr quotes Tradition Eleven of Alcoholics Anonymous: “Our public relations policy is based on attraction, rather than promotion.”

Such a policy is valid for individuals, as well as for self-help groups and churches. The extent to which we must seek out people to evangelize is an indication of our spiritual immaturity. To the extent that we are well-grounded in our relationship with God and our love for our fellow mortals, people will come to us, seeking guidance for ridding themselves of their compulsions and attaining genuine spirituality.

Each of us should ask: Has the love of my heart and soul and body and mind for God enabled me to know him personally and be assured that my career in the flesh and beyond is wholly in the hands of God who loves me with an infinite love? And if so, do I increasingly manifest this spiritual assurance in my relations with my brothers and sisters?

If we are blessed with this spiritual awakening, we will inexorably seek to express such spiritual truth to others, while continuing to grow in the spirit ourselves.

John Wesley said, “Catch on fire with enthusiasm and people will come for mile to watch you burn.” Are you on fire?